33 Million Expected To Travel Over The Holiday

Forecasts of glorious weather, a smooth-sailing economy and record-low unemployment rates are expected to help make this Memorial Day weekend one of the busiest travel periods ever.

Nearly 13 million people nationwide alone will be flying over the five-day Memorial weekend, according to the Air Transport Association.

"When the economy is good and people feel more secure in their jobs, they tend to fly a little bit more," said Jane Graziani, a spokeswoman for the American Automobile Association's national office in Orlando, which is predicting a record-setting long weekend for travel in all forms.

The club estimates that 33.3 million people will be traveling nationally by car, plane, train and bus, an increase of 4 percent, or 1 million people more than Memorial Day last year.

About 4.3 million of those travelers--a striking 10 percent more than Memorial Day weekend 1998--will be traveling 100 miles or more in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio, according to the AAA.

"It tells everyone in the travel industry that shorter vacations are here to stay," said Ileana Blake of the AAA-Chicago Motor Club in Des Plaines. "People can't wait to get away for a long weekend."

Despite a 20-cents-per-gallon increase in gasoline prices from March to April, about 27.5 million of the 33 million people will be traveling on highways.

But motorists who forget to fasten their seat belts, beware: Illinois State Police will be out in force this weekend with roadside safety checks aimed at ticketing seat-belt law violators.

David Sykuta, executive director of the Illinois Petroleum Council, said the high rate of automobile travel this weekend means that motorists are undaunted by this spring's steep increase in gasoline prices, which in January and February had hit a 15-year low of little more than $1 a gallon.

"The price is just back to where it was the last 10 years. . . . That's my theory on why there hasn't been any kind of consumer outcry, and people are traveling to beat the band," Sykuta said.

Air travelers also are on the increase, about 2.4 percent more than last Memorial Day, according to the Air Transport Association.

O'Hare is expecting a daily average of more than 200,000 passengers from Thursday through Tuesday. Midway anticipates a total of 210,000 passengers between Thursday and Tuesday.

"This is about 3 to 5 percent better than we did last year over Memorial Day weekend," said Chicago Department of Aviation spokesman Dennis Culloton.

Air fares are down 1.5 percent over the average price of a ticket this time last year, said Diana Cronin, a spokeswoman for the ATA.